Bauer, Campbell make final push

Both profess confidence they will earn the Republican Party's nomination for lieutenant governor.

Though hobbling on crutches since his May 23 plane crash, Bauer was in Columbia and Lexington on Friday greeting people on their way to work.

"We have the momentum, without a shadow of a doubt," Bauer said.

Friday afternoon, heading to the Aiken area, Campbell spokesman Adam Piper had lost track of how many campaign stops they had made that day.

"We're campaigning just as hard as we were going into the primary, and not going to leave any stone unturned," Campbell said.

Heading into Tuesday's runoff, Campbell has the numbers advantage.

In the June 13 primary, he bested Bauer by 21,000 votes.

A majority of Aiken and Edgefield counties voted for Campbell.

A majority of Beaufort County voters chose Campbell.

But Bauer was in a similar spot four years ago, when he came in second in a three-way race before beating Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, in the runoff.

Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard thinks, however, that Campbell has too much going in his favor to lose: endorsements from the first President Bush and S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford, the fact that he earned the most votes in the June 13 election, and recognition as the son of South Carolina's late governor, Carroll Campbell.

Bauer believes he has the answer: as much face-to-face time as possible with voters before tomorrow's election.

That was the missing component heading into primary, Bauer said. Because of the injuries he sustained in the plane crash, he was unable to actively campaign.

Having served in the Legislature from 1997-2002 before becoming lieutenant governor - and having garnered a reputation as a hard worker in office - Bauer believes South Carolinians will support him on Tuesday.

The criticism he has received for activities outside the office, notably the two times last winter he was stopped for speeding, but not ticketed, hasn't extended to his performance in the office, Bauer said.

"They may have said I've had some personal missteps, driving too fast, but not one time has anyone said I did a bad job as lieutenant governor," he said.

Campbell, though, thinks South Carolinians support his vision of adding more functionality to the lieutenant governor's office and building a stronger relationship with the governor, including eventually having the two positions run together on one ticket.

He noted that in addition to the 111,000 people who voted for him, 43,000 voted for Anderson doctor Henry Jordan.

"They sent a loud, clear message on the 13th that they, too, are ready for change in the lieutenant governor's office," he said.

The winner of Tuesday's runoff will face Democrat Robert Barber in the November General Election.

There will also be a runoff Tuesday in the state treasurer's race between Republicans Thomas Ravenel and Jeff Willis. Greg Ryberg and Rick Quinn, who finished second and third, respectively, in the primary opted not to participate in the runoff after Ravenel received 48 percent of the vote.

The winner of that runoff will face Democrat Grady Patterson, who has been state treasurer for 36 of the past 40 years.